Crimes and Courts Reporter
In a shocking incident in Harare, students at Ivyluck College were deceived into taking counterfeit Zimsec O’ Level exams, allegedly orchestrated by their headmaster, Tafadzwa Chikohora.
The situation has left students and parents in disbelief as they learned that the exams they sat for were not legitimate.
Chikohora, aged 31, has been charged with theft of trust property after misappropriating exam fees intended for three students. He appeared in court before magistrate Dennis Mangosi and has been remanded in custody pending a bail application.
The college director, Mr. Lucky Sibanda, is the complainant in this case.
Despite offering classes from Form 1 to Form 6, Ivyluck College is not a registered Zimsec examination center. In May, the college received US$729 to register students at Ellis Robins High School, a legitimate Zimsec center. However, Chikohora allegedly failed to register the students and instead misappropriated the funds.
To cover his actions, Chikohora is accused of sending out falsified statements of entry to make it appear as though the students were registered. He also created counterfeit Zimsec examination papers and conducted the fake exams at the Ellis Robins laboratory. After the exams, he reportedly destroyed the counterfeit papers to hide his fraudulent activities.
The scheme unraveled when students began discussing the content of the exam papers, which raised suspicions. Investigators later discovered copies of the fake examination papers on Chikohora’s phone, leading to his arrest.
This incident highlights serious issues regarding trust and accountability in educational institutions. The students’ experience serves as a cautionary tale about the importance of verifying the legitimacy of examination centers and the potential consequences of fraud in the education sector.
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